The rule will also apply to couples who adopt a child. The working parents will have the right to divide the statutory 50 weeks of parental leave between them. All this apart from the right to take up to 18 weeks of unpaid leave per child.

This law will ensure a better career for women who opt for long sabbatical periods in order to focus on the child.

Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg said – “We need to challenge the old-fashioned assumption that women will always be the parent that stays at home ­ many fathers want that option too. We want to create a fairer society that gives parents the flexibility to choose how they share care for their child in the first year after birth.”